Sleepless
by Solianne
Summary: Mathilda doesn't sleep easy as voices of doubt follow her into her sleep. It's a good thing then that she has someone there to wake her up and quiet them a little.


"You played the game and you lost," even while sleeping Mathilda couldn't escape Coach Barthez. It was bad enough that she heard his voice in her head while awake, making her question her every move and having her second guess any decision she made, but to have him haunt her while asleep too? It was just cruel.

Gently touching her shoulder, Tala tried to shake her awake, sighing when she turned a little, moaning something about "we must all make sacrifices" which he recognized as yet another taunt from Barthez. When she didn't wake up however, he shifted closer to her and gave her another shake, rougher this time, to try and wake her up.

As she woke, she shot up and he only just got out of the way to avoid their heads clashing together. Her eyes were wide and she was gasping for air, staring straight ahead for what must have been at least five minutes as he moved closer, stroking her back in an attempt to calm her down.

Slowly but surely she did, leaning closer to him as her breathing began to even out she eventually turned her head towards him, giving him a small, thankful, smile in the dark.

"Did I wake you?" she whispered, glancing up at him through her eyelashes as she leaned her head on his chest.

"I sleep light," he murmured back as he brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her head. She had nightmares; he on the other hand woke up at the tiniest amount of movement or sound. This wasn't the first time he'd woken up after hearing her whimper and moan in her sleep.

"I'm sorry," she whispered back, titling her head back so she could look at him better. "You should have agreed to share a room with Bryan, you have that match tomorrow," she frowned and paused, turning slightly to glance at the clock, "today," she amended after a moment, glancing up at him with a frown.

"Bryan snores," he said gruffly, shifting so that he could lean town and nuzzle her cheek. "Besides, he might have wanted to have company over," never mind the fact that Bryan was so private that even Tala had no idea if the man was seeing anyone.

"Company?" Mathilda frowned as she looked up at him. "I didn't know –"

"No one knows," Tala interrupted her with a slight grin, "that's the way he likes it."

As she laughed quietly, Mathilda shifted in his arms, gently kissing him on the side of the jaw, she leaned her head on his shoulder again.

"Fair enough I guess," she said softly. "Still, you need rest," she murmured, tracing patterns on his chest with her hand.

"I'll be fine, the match is against Raul, I'd like to think that I can beat him fair and square with a hand tied behind my back," he said with a smirk, which only widened when she hit his chest and narrowed her eyes up at him.

"Raul is good you know!" she said as she hit him again, not very hard though, and gave him a glare. "You really shouldn't underestimate him so," she shook her head and was about to shift back, causing him to tighten his arm around her.

"I know," he said, laughter in his voice, as he drew her closer and kissed her forehead. "I'm only joking," he gently placed a finger beneath her chin so he could lift her face up a little. "You look so cute when you get mad," he said with a grin as he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss.

"Not fair," she murmured when he pulled back a little, opening her eyes to stare into his for a brief second before she pulled him in for another kiss.

"I only play fair during Beybattles," he murmured with a smirk as they broke apart to get some air.

Rolling her eyes, but smiling none the less, Mathilda shook her head at him.

"I seem to remember the time when –" she giggled when he pushed her down and moved so that he was straddling her.

"_These_ days I play fair during Beybattles," he clarified as he looked down at her, leaning down for another kiss.

"You should still get some rest though," she whispered when they broke apart, stroking his cheek with the back of her hand.

"So should you," he murmured as he shifted again so that he was lying beside her, "you have practice tomorrow, don't you?"

"Yeah," she shifted so that she was lying on her side and then moved so that her head was resting on his chest.

"Then you need rest too," he said softly before kissing the top of her head and gently running his hand through her hair.

"I don't wake you up again though," she murmured softly, her voice heavy with sleep as she began to relax and settle down.

"It's alright if you do," he said with a small grin, "I get to make out with you when you do," he laughed softly when she hit his chest again, raising herself up a little so that she could give him a kiss and stare lovingly down at him.

"I love you Tala," she murmured as she kissed him again before returning to her former position with her head on his chest.

Stroking her back gently and brushing her hair away from her face again he smiled.

"I love you too," he murmured just before her breathing evened out and she fell asleep again.

* * *

_I felt like doing a short drabble and this was what I came up with. I kinda want to make it longer, but at the same time I'm happy with where it ended so yeah. It's just a quickie so it's not my best, but it did stretch out my writing muscles a little, which is always good :)_


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